This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
1. Technical Field
The invention derives from a method for paying out banknotes by a cash machine and a cash machine for carrying out the method.
2. Discussion
A cash machine is an apparatus for the automatic paying-out and/or paying-in of cash, preferably in the form of banknotes. Cash machines are also referred to as ATMs (automated teller machines) where they are used for conducting banking transactions. In addition, cash machines may be used at filling stations or in hypermarkets for the automatic processing of a payment transaction. Various types of cash machines are known: cash dispensers, cash deposit machines and cash recycling machines. A customer can usually draw cash from his/her bank account at cash dispensers. These therefore dispense banknotes to a customer. A customer can pay in cash at cash deposit machines, for example into his/her bank account or to carry out a payment transaction. Banknotes are therefore fed into a cash deposit machine by a customer. Cash recycling machines allow the customer to both withdraw cash and pay cash in. Banknotes are therefore both deposited and dispensed.
For the depositing of banknotes, one or more sensors integrated into the cash machine normally check the banknotes for authenticity and for forgeries. If a forgery is detected, it is retained in order to withdraw it from circulation.
However, the possibility that a forged or otherwise invalid banknote will not be detected cannot be altogether ruled out. Invalid banknotes include not just forgeries, but also banknotes that have been rendered invalid by a special marking, such as dyeing or a stamp. If an invalid banknote is not detected when it is deposited in a cash machine and therefore not withdrawn, it could be dispensed again to a customer by a cash dispenser or a cash recycling machine. It is a disadvantage that a customer who receives such an invalid banknote cannot prove that it was dispensed by a cash machine. Furthermore, a customer can falsely claim to have received an invalid banknote paid out by a cash machine. In both cases, the operator of the cash machine has no means of tracing the banknotes dispensed by a cash machine and matching them up to individual customers. He/she is faced with an assertion by a customer, which he/she is unable to verify. Nor does the customer have any means of substantiating his/her assertion, unless there are witnesses.